It’s the most wonderful time of the year - time for the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl! This year again I’ve worked with Yarn Refuge in Reno, NV to design the exclusive crochet pattern - the Spark Cowl.

One thing that Reno is known for are the Hot Air Balloon Races in early September. I’ve never woken up early enough to actually watch them take off, but you can always spot them from wherever you are in the city. The speckled yarn included in the kit is aptly named Balloon Races. The Spark Cowl has cables that represent the flames needed to hoist the balloons into the sky and off to the races.

This uses Plucky Knitter Luxe Merino Light Sport, which is a 100% ultra fine merino yarn, and it is definitely luxe! Sport weight is an underutilized yarn weight, falling somewhere between fingering and DK. It gives you the plump yarn feeling you want from DK with lighter feeling reminiscent of fingering.

I recommend carrying your non-working yarn up the inside of the cowl, catching your floats every few rounds, so you’ll only have 4 ends to weave in when you’re done. The PDF contains detailed instructions along with some photos for a couple of the trickier parts. I promise it’s not hard! It’s just new. :)